KATANAGATARI 1

“Shichika. About how far have we come?”

“Huh? I’d say eight hundred steps or so.”

His stores of energy brimming over, he answered Togame’s question with the most pedestrian of expressions. He had a better complexion than before their way up the mountain, as if he had benefitted from a modest amount of exercise. There was no limit to the power of this hearty youth.

“Good. In that case.”

Togame meant to express her intention to ascend the rest of the stairs on her own, but that became unnecessary.

They had not exactly lucked out.

Better to say they were out of luck.

Eight hundred, Shichika had estimated, and under the torii situated at, in fact, the eight hundred and fiftieth stair─a figure stood sweeping dead leaves with a bamboo broom.

In miko vestments of black.

And yet─unlike the shrine maidens in the world below.38

Only her hakama, covering her lower body, was black.

Her face was not hidden by a talisman.

She was not carrying a sword.

But what truly set her apart─was her demeanor.

Radiating, effortlessly, the singular aura of a sanctum-dweller who stood entirely apart from the Kuromiko and all the other denizens of the world below─she worked her broom. The stairs had been so steep they had not noticed her until they were this close─which made it seem as if she had appeared out of thin air.

Stunned, Shichika nearly dropped Togame for the second time─thankfully or otherwise, it was not the first, and she managed to throw her arms around his neck, almost clinging to him.

In that posture, which did not lend itself to ready explanations.

They encountered39 Meisai Tsuruga, the third adversary on their Sword Hunt.

“How do you do?”

Her voice, coming at them from above, defied description.

In how chilly it sounded.

1 神無月 KAN’NAZUKI “month when the gods are absent”

2 神有月 KAMIARIZUKI “month when the gods are present”

3 三途 SANZU “trinity” of hell’s punishments: getting (1) scorched, (2) cannibalized, and (3) harried with swords and staves by hungry spirits

4 敦賀迷彩 TSURUGA MEISAI 敦賀 a major port town of old, in present-day Fukui 迷彩 camouflage

5 千刀 SENTŌ TSURUGI “The Thousand Katana: Brand”

6 薮から棒、 YABU KARA BŌ, “(poking) a stick out of a bush” or non-sequitur…

7 略して野暮 RYAKUSHITE YABO “abbreviated as” 野暮 YABO boorish (antonym of 粋 IKI cool)

8 金偏に殺 KANE HEN NI KOROSU “the radical for ‘metal’ plus ‘kill’” (yields TSURUGI brand)

9 二刀流対策 NITŌRYŪ TAISAKU “two sword-style countermeasure”

10 鳥居 TORII “where the birds are”

11 大山 TAIZAN “big mountain”

12 被虐趣味 HIGYAKU SHUMI taste for taking abuse

13 お姫様抱っこ OHIMESAMA DAKKO “princess hug”

14 舌を巻く SHITA WO MAKU “tongue-rolling” a gesture of amazement

15 黒巫女 KUROMIKO “dark shrine maidens”; echoes 黒ミサ KUROMISA Black Mass

16 大陸の妖怪 TAIRIKU NO YŌKAI “continental monsters/spirits”

17 太平 TAIHEI peaceful e.g. 太平洋 TAIHEIYŌ the Pacific Ocean

18 空回り KARAMAWARI to spin your wheels

19 寺社奉行 JISHA BUGYŌ Edo-era magistrate of temples and shrines

20 一筋縄 HITOSUJI NAWA a single length of rope (would not get it done)

21 耶蘇教 YASOKYŌ “faith in the revived” YASO is also a phonetic approximation of “Jesus” vs. キリスト教 KIRISUTOKYŌ the modern term for Christianity

22 神道 SHINTŌ “the gods’ way” The aforementioned faiths all end in 教 KYŌ teaching; Shinto, like kendo and other martial arts, ends with 道 TŌ/DŌ way

23 治外法権 CHIGAI HŌKEN outside the jurisdiction

24 本流 HONRYŪ “main stream” 流 RYŪ flow: the same character as in e.g. Kyotoryu

25 武装神社 BUSŌ JINJA a militarized shrine

26 偽善 GIZEN “fake goodness”

27 試金石 SHIKINSEKI “gold-testing stone”

28 鼻歌混じりに HANAUTA MAJIRI NI “with humming mixed in”

29 平気で…平左に HEIKI DE…HEIZA NI plays on similarity between 平気 HEIKI “carefree” and 平左衛門 HEIZAEMON, an old-fashioned male name

30 神 KAMI in Japanese, a noun on its own can be singular or plural, but Shinto is polytheistic

31 正体 SHŌTAI true identity

32 矛先を収める HOKOSAKI WO OSAMERU stop pointing the tip of a spear or pole-arm

33 朴念仁 BOKU NENJIN shunning adornments or otherwise stubborn

34 山賊 SANZOKU “mountain bandit” vs. 海賊 KAIZOKU “sea bandit” pirate

35 頭目 TŌMOKU head of a group or clan

36 祈る INORU wish; supplicate

37 従者 JŪSHA follower

38 下界 GEKAI low with respect to the heavens, casting Mt. Taizan as an otherworldly realm

39 遭遇 SŌGŪ accidental meeting